If you’ve spent any amount of time researching how to heat and cool your home, you’ve likely considered a heat pump, a system that runs on electricity, drawing heat from the air outside and moving it indoors to heat or outdoors to cool. Heat pumps are a super energy efficient way to heat and cool a home, but there are many misconceptions about them. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is aiming to tackle those misconceptions through its Experience Clean Heat initiative.
“There are older-style heat pumps from the ’90s or early 2000s that were designed for warmer climates,” says Courtney Moriarta, director of NYSERDA’s Single Family Residential team. “If people are familiar with that old-school style, they may think a heat pump is expensive to operate or doesn’t do a good job of heating your home when it gets really cold. But in fact, today’s heat pumps are made for cold climates, and you can specifically get a cold-climate heat pump that’s designed to work at full capacity down to five degrees Fahrenheit and can continue to provide heat when the outside temperature drops as low as -20 or -30 degrees depending on the type of equipment. The technology is very cutting-edge and very efficient.”
Indeed, the heat pumps of today come with myriad benefits, including, most notably, the fact that they’re much better for the environment than traditional heating systems. Heat pumps run on electricity, so there is no combustion of fossil fuels (like oil, propane, or natural gas), fuel storage, or risk of carbon monoxide to worry about. In addition to having the lowest carbon emissions of any heating source, heat pumps are oftentimes two to three times more efficient than other types of systems. When you combine saving opportunities for the upfront costs like utility incentives with federal tax credits and, in some cases, New York State tax credits, there has never been a better time to invest in the clean comfort of a home heat pump.
As is the case with any new technology, consumers can be a little skeptical. To help get the public more familiar with heat pumps, NYSERDA has partnered with some local businesses that already utilize heat pump systems to heat and cool their spaces. Visitors to these businesses can “experience” a heat pump first-hand by seeing, hearing, and feeling how it can keep them comfortable no matter the weather. Partner businesses are provided custom signage about the systems, and work with NYSERDA to promote the benefits they experience as heat pump users on social media. Locally, you can see Experience Clean Heat signage at Artisanal Brew Works in Saratoga, Tree Huggers and The Sweetish Chef in Ballston Spa, Vischer Ferry General Store in Rexford and Fort Ticonderoga. (NYSERDA is actively looking for more businesses to get involved with the Experience Clean Heat initiative.)
“The Experience Clean Heat program is all about awareness and winning over people’s hearts and minds,” Moriarta says. “We want people to be more knowledgeable about heat pumps and aware of them so that when the time comes that they need to replace their own heating system, they’re thinking about a heat pump as an option.”
To learn more, visit cleanheat.ny.gov.